Clover food plot maintenance

[Weatherby308]

Hey all, I’m new here. I’m from nc and I have an 1/8 acre Durana clover and winter rye food plot that was planted last year around September. Food plot has been limed and fertilized according to soil test. Here are my questions,

1. Do y’all recommend throwing out a 0-20-20 or similar fertilizer over the food plot? If so, how many times do you do it and how many lbs/ac do you throw out? Also, since I have cereal grains in the clover, do I need to throw in any extra nitrogen or will the clover supply the cereal grains with the nitrogen they need?

2. What do I do with the winter rye this spring? If the deer don’t mow it down themselves should I mow it whenever it gets to 2 or so feet high or should I let it seed out? I don’t want it to shade out the clover.

3. Is it ok if I overseed the clover with a 50/50 mix of wheat/rye every fall hereafter? I want to do this to give more variety to the plot and to also take grazing pressure off the clover. This is a fairly shaded plot so I’m pretty much limited to clover and cereal grains.

4. If I missed anything, tell me anything else you do to maintain the clover plot.

Thanks in advance for any replies

 

[OkieKubota]

Hey all, I’m new here. I’m from nc and I have an 1/8 acre Durana clover and winter rye food plot that was planted last year around September. Food plot has been limed and fertilized according to soil test. Here are my questions,

1. Do y’all recommend throwing out a 0-20-20 or similar fertilizer over the food plot? If so, how many times do you do it and how many lbs/ac do you throw out? Also, since I have cereal grains in the clover, do I need to throw in any extra nitrogen or will the clover supply the cereal grains with the nitrogen they need?

2. What do I do with the winter rye this spring? If the deer don’t mow it down themselves should I mow it whenever it gets to 2 or so feet high or should I let it seed out? I don’t want it to shade out the clover.

3. Is it ok if I overseed the clover with a 50/50 mix of wheat/rye every fall hereafter? I want to do this to give more variety to the plot and to also take grazing pressure off the clover. This is a fairly shaded plot so I’m pretty much limited to clover and cereal grains.

4. If I missed anything, tell me anything else you do to maintain the clover plot.

Thanks in advance for any replies

1. if you limed and fertilized in September you could put some non nitrogen fertilizer on it anytime now and give it a little more palatable but if you don’t it’s not a deal breaker. 1/8th acre I would probably just put 40-50 lbs on it. Do not put nitrogen on it because it will boost the grasses that may be in it.

2. Let the winter Rye go all the way until it goes to seed and dies. It will have an allopathic effect on weeds and will shade grasses out and will protect the clover from the heat/direct sunlight. I usually Brushhog mine mid June when I have Rye in it after the dead rye is starting to fall over. You would be amazed at how well the clover will grow in that rye patch.

3. I know different people have different luck with this but here on our place I have overseeded with rye and wheat but get very little growth as the clover is just too thick and shades it out. Of course seed for a plot of your size would be very inexpensive so I would give it a shot and see how it works on your ground. 1 think I do when the clover starts getting thin looking is run a disk over it in September and add any seed I think I might want to put in and the clover will come back in again super thick on its own. This is also a great time to do a fall hit of fertilizer/lime.

4. things to do... Brushhog it when it gets tall and tough down to about 6-8”. It has usually flowered and the flowers have shriveled by that time and this will also take care of broadleaf weeds that try to take hold. Once the wheat/rye die off look for grasses coming up. When you start having grass issues it doesn’t take long for the grass to try to take the plot over. You need to spray the plot with Clethodim to kill the grasses back...don’t let grass get to seed stage or too mature. A good time to spray is May here where I am and then I usually spray again for any new grasses trying to come in by mid august. I have a 3 acre Durana clover plot I have been able to maintain for 7 years this way.

These photos are from last November.

 

[Weatherby308]

Thanks for the reply, newbie question(I’m only 15) just to make sure, you ain’t meaning 40-50lbs of fertilizer per acre, your saying 40-50lbs of fertilizer for the 1/8 acre plot? Am i correct?

 

[OkieKubota]

Thanks for the reply, newbie question(I’m only 15) just to make sure, you ain’t meaning 40-50lbs of fertilizer per acre, your saying 40-50lbs of fertilizer for the 1/8 acre plot? Am i correct?

Correct

 

[Weatherby308]

Ok thank you

 

[Triple C]

Okie hit the nail on the head for maintaining perennial clover. Don't use fert with nitrogen or you will lose the battle with grasses invading your clover plots. When we plant fall plots we use 20-20-20 for cereal grains and brassicas. Made the mistake of spreading same mix on clovers in the fall and pretty much got overtaken with grasses the following summer. I like leaving the cereal rye until it heads out and dies as well. Just mow it down and hit your clover with cleth when the grasses appear. Mow for broadleafs or spot spray with gly.

 

[dogghr]

Welcome aboard Weatherby. Perfect advice already given. Don't panic in heat / dry Aug as the clover may look terrible but as soon as fall cool comes, it will rebound quickly. And don't buy in to some that clover plots need be redone after a few years, they will last as long as you pay attention to them. Do the grain overseeding each fall, and that will help control grasses. Personally I don't worry much of weeds or grassed in a clover plot. It may look ugly but it propagates quite well.
15??? Heck I was still learning to tie my shoes at that age. Congrats on your drive.

 

[Weatherby308]

Thank y’all for the advice, do y’all do a soil test every year prior to when y’all add in fertilizer/lime, or do y’all just not bother with it?

 

[Mennoniteman]

Thank y’all for the advice, do y’all do a soil test every year prior to when y’all add in fertilizer/lime, or do y’all just not bother with it?

No you don't necessarily need a soil test every year, although there's no harm in it if you want to be perfectly sure of where you are at. It usually takes several years to get soil within the range of where you want it, so a soil test every year can often tend to be somewhat redundant, it will probably call for the same amendments as the last one did, only not quite as much. I usually do a soil test every other year for this reason, and extrapolate off of the old one for the year in between. Look at last year's soil test that you already have, and take note of the lime and fertilizer that was called for, and add up what you have applied, then apply a similar amount of the same types this year, a little more if you didn't quite meet the recommendation last year, a little less if you put the whole recommended amount on last year. Then next year about this time do a soil test and see how close you are to the target numbers.

It's very impressive that you are taking an interest in soil at 15 years old. I predict that you will have a very successful career a a deer hunter.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Hey all, I’m new here. I’m from nc and I have an 1/8 acre Durana clover and winter rye food plot that was planted last year around September. Food plot has been limed and fertilized according to soil test. Here are my questions,

1. Do y’all recommend throwing out a 0-20-20 or similar fertilizer over the food plot? If so, how many times do you do it and how many lbs/ac do you throw out? Also, since I have cereal grains in the clover, do I need to throw in any extra nitrogen or will the clover supply the cereal grains with the nitrogen they need?

2. What do I do with the winter rye this spring? If the deer don’t mow it down themselves should I mow it whenever it gets to 2 or so feet high or should I let it seed out? I don’t want it to shade out the clover.

3. Is it ok if I overseed the clover with a 50/50 mix of wheat/rye every fall hereafter? I want to do this to give more variety to the plot and to also take grazing pressure off the clover. This is a fairly shaded plot so I’m pretty much limited to clover and cereal grains.

4. If I missed anything, tell me anything else you do to maintain the clover plot.

Thanks in advance for any replies

Overseeding cereal grains into a clover stand is a lot more successful if you spin the seed, and then mow the clover to about 4-6" high right after seeding. It also helps a lot if you do it right before a rain.

 

[Weatherby308]

Thank you, I’ll just throw out a little less fert/lime than what I did last year.

 

[Cedar Ridge]

Welcome Weatherby. You’ve come to the right place to learn. Great group on here. Congrats on getting an early start. Wish I would have. Best of luck to you.

 

[Weatherby308]

Welcome Weatherby. You’ve come to the right place to learn. Great group on here. Congrats on getting an early start. Wish I would have. Best of luck to you.

Yeah, I aint been on here very long and theres already a lot of good info being said. Thank you.

 

[Drycreek]

All I can add to this great advice is welcome to the forum !